Music Monday: Lubec, the Builders and the Butchers, UMO, Wishyunu, TeenSpot

Local Celebrity by LubecStarting the week off is a marvelous new song from Portland band Lubec that moved here from Virginia a couple years ago (and named themselves after a town in Maine). The song's called "Local Celebrity" and it boasts dueling male-female vocals and fuzz-drenched guitars to give it a charming shoegaze-twee feel. The song is a preview from their upcoming album The Thrall, which they're currently recording with Robert Comitz of Nucular Aminals at his Frawg Pound Studio, and it's currently available as a free download over on Bandcamp. Meanwhile, Lubec plays the Alhambra Theatre (formerly Mt. Tabor) on Wednesday, May 8.

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The Builders and the Butchers' fourth album is on the way, and here's the first preview track from Western Medicine, which comes out on Badman on July 2. It's a good one: The rollicking "Dirt in the Ground" suggests a slightly brighter sound from the B&TB, at least sonically—the band varies their instrumentation subtly but substantially, incorporating electric guitar and layered backing vocals. The lyrics still suggest their typically black-hearted take on gravedigging folk, however, and the album was reportedly influenced by the cheery, smiley writings of Cormac McCarthy. The band plays a record release show on June 22 at Mississippi Studios.

Tracks from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Wishyunu, and TeenSpot after the jump!

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Lindstrøm recently did a remix of an Unknown Mortal Orchestra song, so it's only fitting that UMO return the favor. This cover of Lindstrøm's "Rà-àkõ-st"—I have no idea how to pronounce it—has been given the full Unknown Mortal Orchestra treatment, with lots of well-laid fretwork and plenty of what sound like a giant envelope filter. Putting Lindstrøm's melody through his lead guitar, Ruban Nielson gives the instrumental track a very progressive/krautrock feel; things get especially fancy around the four-minute mark. UMO has the rest of 2013 filled with tour dates, although another hometown Portland show is not scheduled among them.

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Local drums/synth duo Wishyunu have a new EP called Futuray coming this June, and here's the lovely single from it. "Sprayy" is a languid, yawning track with ambience as thick as fog. Making a Beach House reference would be easy, but I think this has quite a bit more going for it, including a sci-fi late-night vibe and a driving beat. This is also available as a free download on Bandcamp and Soundcloud.

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On The Floor by TeenSpotEarlier we premiered (in an early mix) the opening track from TeenSpot's upcoming EP, Aggressive Inline Skating, which is now finished and up on Bandcamp. The power-pop ensemble includes Shaky Hands/Spookies' Mayhaw Hoons, Paper Brain's Mike Wroblewski, Profcal's Asher McKenzie, and Your Rival's Mo Troper (full disclosure—Troper is a Mercury contributor). The band is working on putting Aggressive Inline Skating onto 7-inch (jampacked with six songs), but take a listen to the EP's closing song, "On the Floor" above, and check out the whole thing on Bandcamp.